1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a video-on-demand system, and more particularly to a caching system and method for a video-on-demand system.
2. Background Art
Video-on-demand is becoming increasingly popular. With video-on-demand, a consumer can choose not only the content they wish to see, but also the viewing time as well. When a person orders a video-on-demand session, the selected content is delivered from a server to a receiving unit at the person's location, which is frequently a set-top box.
One issue associated with video-on-demand systems involves heavy resource allocation. Servers must be configured to store vast amounts of content. Further, networks must be able to accommodate large volumes of content data.
It would be advantageous to develop a system or method capable of providing video-on-demand functionality with reduced demand on available resources.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.